USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA)—the agency responsible for equitably serving all farmers, ranchers, and agricultural partners in the United States with effective agricultural programs—recently launched a Spanish-language Twitter account. We hope it helps to reach Hispanic farmers and ranchers in a new way. We’ll “tweet” the latest information on farm programs, loan announcements and emergency designations. We’ll also issue updates via Twitter on the Hispanic and women farmers claims process.

“We are excited to offer a tool that reaches folks for whom English is not their first language,” said FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson. “As the population of Hispanic farmers and ranchers continues to grow, we need to grow with them and provide resources to help educate and inform all of our customers.” Read more »

When the final wall was raised on Jessi Mattila’s new home, it symbolized another step toward homeownership for the mother of three in Mountain Iron, Minn. It also symbolized the strength of a new partnership between USDA Rural Development and the Habitat for Humanity.

Rural Development is financing Mattila’s home through its direct home loan program and the North St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity is partnering with the Mattila family to provide support through the building process. Read more »

Grain in eastern Washington. AMS has been tracking and gathering datasets for grain transportation for over a decade. Photo by Sparktography.

The United States proudly touts a long history of grain production and is the top exporter of grain in the world. Half of our wheat, almost 40 percent of soybeans and almost a fifth of our corn are exported. That’s why for over a decade the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has been tracking and gathering datasets for grain transportation, including prices, deliveries, movements, sales and freight rates, and now, for the first time, we’ve released our historic data in an excel format. Read more »

The U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement now awaiting Congressional action promises to boost U.S. exports to the nation known as “The Crossroads of the Americas.” In total, Congressional ratification of the Panama, Colombia and South Korea trade agreements will help farmers and ranchers add more than $2.3 billion a year to the American economy, which will support nearly 20,000 jobs. In Panama, USDA is hard at work cultivating consumers’ tastes for high-quality U.S. food and agricultural products at events such as last month’s “Panama Gastronomica,” an international food show in Panama City. Read more »

This summer, USDA employees nationwide joined together to raise 1,791,393 pounds of food during the 2011 Feds Feed Families food drive. Thank you to all USDA employees and their partnering communities. Your extra efforts and generosity made the 3rd annual food drive a remarkable success.

As summer has faded into fall, this is another season when many Americans are struggling to make ends meet. USDA programs already make a big difference in the lives of many Americans: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps over 45 million Americans put nutritious food on the table. This summer, USDA employees went even further and helped fill the shelves of food banks and pantries around the country through the 3rd Annual Feds Feed Families Food Drive. With generosity in their hearts and the mission of fighting hunger, USDA employees joined together nationwide and raised an impressive 1,791,393 pounds of food for donation! That number breaks down further to a donation of about 15 pounds per employee. Thank you to all USDA employees and partners who contributed to this remarkable donation. Your efforts reinforce the Department’s efforts to help people every day, every way. Read more »